


Captain on Deck

by weekend_conspiracy_theorist



Series: In the Bowels of the Ship [6]
Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 00:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16843885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weekend_conspiracy_theorist/pseuds/weekend_conspiracy_theorist
Summary: Jim goes down to engineering to flirt.





	Captain on Deck

“CAPTAIN ON DECK,” Lieutenant Givens bellows, and Jim winces and takes an involuntary half-step to the side in response as everyone- including those ensigns on the far end of the _large_ room- looks up and snaps briefly to attention before returning to their duties at Jim’s nod.

G grins and throws up a salute that somehow manages to be both sarcastic and sincere all at once. “Voted best set of lungs in the department,” they offer, not sounding at all sympathetic to Jim’s busted eardrum.

“I see why you and my yeoman get along so well,” he comments dryly, waving off the salute. “At ease, Lieutenant.”

“Yessir,” they say, sounding thickly amused, but- likely conscious of the fact that Jim’s their commanding officer- they refrain from the multitude of snappy comebacks Jim can see waiting on the tip of their tongue. Turning smartly on their heel, they continue on their way to the nearest Jeffries tube–but not without calling over their shoulder, a smirk hidden somewhere in the corners of their lips, “The chief’s in his office, for once.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Jim says, and tries not to feel like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

He’s the captain of this ship; he’s well within his rights to check in on his engineering department, and of course that involves checking in with his chief engineer. This has nothing to do with–

Scotty looks up when he strides inside the office, and his face breaks into its usual jovial grin. “Cap’n!”

Jim can’t possibly help but grin back. “Mr. Scott. I was hoping–”

“Aye, sir; already ahead of ye.” Scotty leaps up from his chair- likely having been hoping for an excuse to give up on his paperwork anyway- and bustles out the door, leaving Jim to fall into step in his wake. “The lads ‘n’ lasses ‘n’ Lieutenant Givens ‘n’ I’ve been workin’ on a way to iron out the, ah–” he raises his eyebrows, tone lowering significantly– “ _issues_ we bin havin’.”

Jim winks at him, his hands clasped firmly behind his back. “Lead the way, Mr. Scott.”

Four hours later, and he’s covered in grease and propped up on his elbows deep in the bowels of the _Enterprise_. Scotty’s talking–he’s been talking for a good long while, waving a wrench around with his eyes lit up with the kind of simple delight that can only be found when you’re doing exactly that which you were placed on this world to do. Jim’s long since lost the thread of the conversation; not because he can’t understand the concepts Scotty’s discussing so much as that he’s letting the words crash over him like a tidal wave of passionate theoretical physics.

Scotty pauses, one hand resting on the beam of the ship, and the silence is enough for Jim to guiltily startle into focus. “She’s a lovely lady,” Scotty finally says, his tone and his touch reverent.

“She’s a good ship,” Jim agrees. It’s an understatement, of course, but there aren’t _words_ to describe the way he loves his ship.

“The best ship in Starfleet,” Scotty protests–she’s his ship, too, just as much as Jim’s. There’s no one in the Federation, not even her designers, who understand the _Enterprise_ the way the two of them do.

Jim can’t help the way his tone drops, just slightly, into mischief–into… flirting. “With the best Chief of Engineering in Starfleet, to boot.”

“Aye, sir!” Scotty’s chest puffs up with pride. “An’ it’s an honor, sir, to–”

“Scotty,” he cuts in, delicately insistent. “Sometimes, you can just call me Jim.”

They lock eyes for a moment, Jim’s warm and amused, Scotty’s wide and surprised. Then the Scotsman nods, slowly, and his grin is that little bit different as he settles back to face the paneling he’d removed just before going off on his lengthy tangent.

“Aye, Jim,” he says, slow like he’s testing it out. “Back t’ work, eh?”

There’s a warm, comfortable energy between them for the next hour, hovering in the air as they talk about conduits and warp cores till Jim is finally called away to deal with an incident on the bridge. He can’t help the bounce in his step as he goes, nodding goodbye as Lt. Givens wiggles their fingers in a knowing wave.

Sure, getting Scotty to call him “Jim” isn’t much, but every journey begins with a single step, right?

**Author's Note:**

> TOS Jim and Scotty only know how to flirt with each other when someone's holding a copy of the Enterprise's blueprints


End file.
